Please congratulate the following band students for receiving a first division rating at the UIL Region 20 Solo and Ensemble Contest. MacArthur had 36 students qualify for the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest. This is a new record for MacArthur! This achievement is extremely difficult. To qualify, a student must play their entire solo from memory and receive a first division “Superior” rating from the judge.

Please congratulate Conner Snyder on winning 2th place! He competed against 16 other contestants in the Technical Skills and Knowledge section for Automotive Skills USA regional competition. He has advanced to State later in the month.

Also, Conner Snyder was awarded for 3rd place team at a different competition we participated in earlier in the year at Universal Technical Institute. He competed against several other students from all parts Texas and other nearby states who came down for the competition.

3/04/15

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Cardinals Continue Run Through Basketball Playoffs

Congratulations to the MacArthur boys’ basketball team for beating Richardson High School yesterday to advance to the 6A Region 2 Semifinals.

The Cardinals face Round Rock McNeil at 8 p.m., Friday, March 6, at the Ellis Davis Field House in Dallas.

Come out, and help cheer the Cardinals to victory!

2/26/15

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Girls Basketball Heads to Regionals

Your MacArthur Lady Cardinals are headed to the Regional Tournament. The girls played a great game tonight and beat Rockwall 29-37. Thank you to all who came out to support the girls.

We play again this Friday in the Regional semi-final game at Davis Field House (Dallas ISD), tip off is at 6pm. Come out and cheer on the team!

2/26/15

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Cardettes Sweep Awards at Contest

This past Saturday, the Cardettes attended contest at Duncanville High School, something we have not done in five years. There are no words to communicate how proud we directors are of the work these amazing young ladies have put in, and what they were able to accomplish on Saturday truly left me speechless! The following is a list of the awards won:
• Crissy Jarvis, our 1st Lieutenant, was a solo finalist and placed 3rd runner up
• Gussie Nell Davis and Sweepstakes award (which can only be won if at least 3 routines are entered and 90’s and above are earned from all judges on all routines)
• Judges award (only given if a minimum of 93 is received from each judge AND are awarded based on overall scores for each category – only the higher scoring routines in each category are awarded)
o Team Pom
o Team Hip Hop
o Team Military – this is especially significant as only those teams with the highest scores are given this award
• Best overall – these are given to the teams scoring the highest in each individual category on the scoresheets
o Best overall presentation
o Best overall precision
o Best overall technique
o Best overall choreography
• Best in class – Super Team
• Best of the Best – 9th place overall (out of 42 INCREDIBLE teams)
For those who are super unfamiliar with dance/drill team contests…our girls literally won every award they could have possibly won. There were three judges awards they could have won, and they got all three. There were four best overalls they could have won, and they won all four. While we were the only super team competing Saturday, to be given the title “Best in Class,” we still had to “beat the score sheet” and obtain a certain level of scores. But most impressive is our Best of the Best 9th overall award. This category ranks all teams, regardless of age, size, or public/private, and there were truly some amazing teams competing on Saturday. The top 12 teams were ranked at this particular event, and there was only a difference of 27 points between 12th place and 1st. Again, I can’t stress enough how amazingly proud we are and how incredible our girls did!!! To make it even sweeter, while we have a couple girls who have done some cheer or dance contests with outside/private teams, not a single one of our girls has ever competed at this level or in this capacity. Many of the teams that were there on Saturday had also already competed once this year. So, please congratulate these girls when you see them!

2/26/15

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DI Team Advances to State

Your Destination ImagiNation teams competed this past Saturday in the Mid-Cities Regional DI tournament in North Richland Hills and showed everyone all about MacArthur, TX. Both teams did exceptionally well, gaining many great comments from the judges on their creativity and teamwork. Teams presented their central challenge solutions and also competed in an Instant Challenge (think MacGyver). Please congratulate the following students if you see them today. I know several will be wearing their medals proudly.

Structure Team

Built a 75g structure capable of holding 11.3 pounds and told a story about getting rid of the ‘dead weight’ in your life while removing over half(!) of their structure.

This team placed 3rd in their division. We’ll find out after Spring Break if they’ve qualified for the state tournament as a ‘wild card’.

Saiyara Baset
Muram Ibrahim

Improv Team

Researched various improv games and street performances, then integrated them into three randomly selected situations and settings.

This team placed 1st in their central challenge and 1st in their Instant Challenge, making them (of course) 1st in their division and qualified for the state tournament.

The state tournament will be held Saturday, April 11th at Skyline HS in Dallas. Spectator wristbands will be $10 if you wish to check it out.

2/26/15

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JROTC Advances to Nationals

Please congratulate the following members of your Irving MacArthur JROTC Academic and Leadership Teams in advancing to the 2015 Army JROTC National Academic Bowl Championship, at The Catholic University in Washington, DC, June 26-30, 2015. Out of the 1,512 Academic teams that competed, only the Top 24 Academic teams advanced, and out of the 1,320 Leadership teams only the Top 40 Leaderships teams advanced to the National Championship. This is the Teams' fourth appearance in the National Championship in the past five years of competing:

Thank you for the encouragement and support thoughout our entire basketball season. We finished the season with a record of 21-8 while going 13-1 in district play. The boys played hard and clinched a district title on Tuesday when we defeated Irving 67-51. Now on to the Playoffs!!!!

We will play in a playoff showcase shootout against Lincoln this Saturday at Cedar Hill HS, tip off will be at 4:30. We officially begin playoffs next Tuesday (Feb. 24) when your Cardinals will take on Richardson JJ Pierce at The Colony HS, tip off will be at 6:30. We would definitely like to see you there!! We also have Playoff T-Shirts on sale for $15 if anyone is interested contact Coach Martin or myself.

2/18/15

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Lady Cardinals Advance in State Basketball Playoffs

Congratulations to the MacArthur Lady Cardinals basketball team for defeating Lake Highlands on Tuesday night to advance to the area round of the state playoffs! The team will play Killeen this Friday, February 20, in Glen Rose at 7:30 p.m.

Come out, and help cheer our team to victory!

2/18/15

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Mac UIL Finishes 4th in scrimmage meet

The MacAdemics team competed in its final meet before district. We finished 4th place overall out of 37 schools. Below are the students and teams that placed:

All of the wrestlers did a great job this weekend in the toughest region in the state. We have one wrestler, Emmanuel Oni who is advancing to the state tournament next week. Oni took 3rd in the 138lb weight class. If you see him please congratulate him for his tremendous hard work and accomplishments. Attached is a picture. He was all smiles until he got up there. Enjoy the long weekend. Thank you for your support and hard work with the MacArthur Wrestling Team.

2/09/15

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Wrestlers advance ro Regional Tournament

The wrestlers did pretty well at our district tournament over the weekend. 10 will be advancing to the regional tournament in Allen this weekend.

Please help me congratulate the following young ladies, who will be attending the state conference! They did a phenomenal job this weekend at the regional conference and will be advancing to state!

Gisel Gutierrez
Fatima Hernandez

2/09/15

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Choir Advances to State Competition

This past Saturday, we took (14) vocalists to the UIL Solo Contest. No one received less than a 2nd place rating, while (10) of our competitors were awarded a 1st Place gold medal in a Class I Solo. A 71% top medalist rate is an admirable achievement by any standards. Please congratulate the (10) students listed below that received a 1st place rating as they prepare for the state contest in May:

IGNITE Texas has signed on as an official Partner in Education of MacArthur High School. An after-school curriculum has been established for year-round student engagement. The program will provide high school girls civic education, exposure to women in political leadership, hands on training and work opportunities, and a peer network of women who support and nurture each other's aspirations for civic and political leadership.

100 MacArthur Student Leaders attended Leadership camp over the summer in order to achieve the skills necessary to have a successful school year. The 3 day camp provided our students with the knowledge and tools to become more effective leaders in our school. The camp also focused on the importance of school cohesion and unity, providing an opportunity for students to work together towards common goals. The camp ended with teambuilding at a ropes course.

8/28/14

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Top High School Recognition

MacArthur High School was recently named to The Daily Beast's 2014 list of top high schools. Six indicators pulled from school surveys were used to compare public high schools in the U.S., with graduation and college acceptance rates weighed most heavily. Other criteria included college-level courses and exams, percentage of students with free or reduced lunch, as well as SAT and ACT scores - another mark of how well a school prepares students for college.

In addition, MacArthur High School was named to the Top 100 list for schools with a high percentage of graduate students from the free and reduced lunch program.